First Christmas Present Opened

That evening after Eli's surgery, Aunt Vickie and Trisha brought over a gift for the boys to open.  They were super excited and loved playing with it once Trisha and Chris had it put together.  Asa even drew a picture of Eli sleeping on the couch.  My baby had a big day with surgery and all.

Eli's Tonsillectomy

Eli was such a trooper, we had to be to the hospital by 7am for his tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.  He enjoyed playing and watching TV before his surgery.

The surgery was quick and done in less time than it took for me to set up my laptop and post to fb that he was in surgery.  We were in recovery for longer than he was in surgery.

Back in post op, Eli was still a bit groggy from the anesthesia.  But once that wore off, you would have been hard pressed to realize he'd just been through surgery.  We had to keep him from jumping up and down on the bed and running around the halls of the hospital.  He was in such good spirits and really enjoyed his slushies that he was given.  He was also impatient to have the iv removed.  He did think it pretty neat that Cookie Monster also got prepped for surgery and even had his own name band put on.

A short 5 hours later and we were headed home.  Eli was running and bouncing out to the car.  In the first image he is distraught that we forgot to grab his blankie.  Daddy was our hero though and went back inside to get it.  I can't believe how well Eli did with his surgery and I had prepped myself for the worst.  Thankfully we sailed through this experience with no set back.

Christmas Program Repeat

The week before Christmas the kids performed a part of the Christmas program for the morning service.

The Christmas Card Picture Shoot

Some of the images I took during our photo shoot for the Christmas card.  Hoping to be ahead of the game for next year's card.  This year's card was put in the mail on Christmas Eve.  *sigh* On the plus side though is that I did send them out instead of them sitting still waiting to be sent out.

DEER!!!!

So excited for this shot.  This is the best image to date that I have gotten of the deer out at For-Mar Nature Preserve.  I was super happy to capture these beautiful creatures.

It's a Birthday Party!

Smiling faces are always fun to try and capture.  Everyone had a fun time.

The nifty little "trains" I made for the occasion.

Gift opening time.  All the kids like to get in on this part, even if they don't take anything home for themselves.

Video from Asa's School Christmas Program

Asa's First School Christmas Program

On December 16th, Asa had is first school Christmas program.  All of the PM Kindergarteners did a great job.  It was so fun to watch them all sing and act out their songs and poems.
After the program we were able to pick Asa up early and even had a chance to help him make an ornament for the tree.

Mak's Christmas Program

On December 15th, I took the boys along with Skylar and Claudia to see the Christmas Program of my cousin's little girl.  Mak is a few months older than Asa.  She was Mary in the program.  All the kids did a wonderful job and it was such a joy to watch them perform the TRUE Christmas story.

Living Nativity

We met up with my Aunt Vickie, Theresa, Faith and Trisha and enjoyed the Living Nativity Program out at Covenant Hills Campground.  We rode a horse drawn carriage while listening a narration of the Nativity, stopping along the way to see parts of the story being reenacted.  Another tradition to hopefully add to our Christmas traditions.

After our carriage ride the boys wanted to see the horses closer and they went to investigate.

We then headed back inside to warm up with cookies, hot chocolate and popcorn.  Another wonderful evening spent with family.

Miss M. the Performer

We got to see my youngest niece in her Christmas program.  She was a little performer to say the least to stinkin' cute!